Brevard Will Audit 3 Shelters, Seek Aid For Humane Societies

MELBOURNE — County commissioners voted Tuesday to audit Brevard's three animal shelters and to ask city officials to help support the non-profit organizations that run them.

The vote came after officials with the financially strapped South Brevard Humane Society threatened this month to close by Jan. 1 unless the county makes up a $33,000 deficit at the Melbourne shelter.

Society vice president Charles Steiner said the shelter still may close if a solution isn't found quickly. The group's board of directors will vote on the issue in about two weeks, he said.

Steiner and John Eden, president of the Central Brevard Humane Society in Cocoa, said they have no problem with an audit. Titusville shelter officials could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, county officials say they intend to give more attention to all the shelters,which are handling more than 15,000 animals a year, and to get cities involved in funding their operations.

''If we do not support the humane societies in the long run, it's going to cost us more money,'' said commission Chairman Thad Altman, who introduced the motion.

County officials also decided to take another look at how they distribute money to the facilities. Each gets the same amount -- $25,200 this budget year -- even though the south Brevard shelter handles more than twice as many animals as the Titusville shelter.

Altman and officials with the Melbourne shelter say the money should be based on population as long as the other shelters' funding isn't decreased. That means heavily populated south Brevard would get the biggest share.

The county hopes to answer this and other funding questions with the audits, which would scrutinize both finances and operations. Commissioners want to gauge the scope of the south Brevard shelter's problems but also want a countywide picture of the shelter program.

''We don't need a quick fix; we need an overall fix,'' said Pete Wahl, Brevard health and social services coordinator.

Steiner, a Melbourne veterinarian, said he is ''encouraged'' by the commission's action. He said the 30-year-old shelter is plagued with antiquated facilities, a spiraling deficit and a booming animal population.

He estimated the shelter would handle 9,000 animals next year. The Cocoa and Titusville facilities handle about 6,000 and 3,000, respectively.

The county owns the Titusville and Melbourne shelters but contracts with the humane societies to operate them. The Cocoa shelter, owned by the Central Brevard Humane Society, gets the same amount of money from the county.

Melbourne humane society officials have refused to sign this year's contract because of their financial troubles. However, commissioners voted Tuesday to extend last year's agreement until the funding situation is resolved.

Part of the problem is the lack of support from south Brevard cities, Steiner said. Not one gives money to the facility, unlike Titusville and Rockledge, which budget a sum each year for the north and central shelters.

''The cities have treated me as if it the shelter is a social function, hands down,'' he said. ''We think the operation of the shelter is a governmental function, and more money should come from government sources.''

South Brevard city officials said Tuesday they sympathize with the problem but are plagued by their own budgetary constraints.

Melbourne City Manager Sam Halter said the loss of federal revenue sharing funds may force the city to cut off donations to other organizations it now supports.

He also questioned whether cities should fund a countywide function. ''I think that gets into this double taxation issue,'' he said.

But Commissioner Theo York disagreed. ''I'm not so sure that because you pay county and city taxes it is a duplication of effort.''